2013 Maine Legislative Recap

Conservation-Related Bills from the Maine Legislature

Bills Passed

Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Merger

In 2013, the Maine Legislature finalized a merger (LD 837: An Act To Clarify the Laws Establishing the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry) first initiated in 2012 joining the former Department of Conservation with the former Department of Agriculture. The new State Agency, the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, will include four bureaus: (1) Parks and Lands, (2) Forestry, (3) Resource Information and Land Use Planning and (4) Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources. Included in themerger legislation was language and funding to reestablish the Land for Maine’s Future Director, a position eliminated in 2011.

Wind Power

There were more than a half dozen bills introduced in 2013 to amend Maine’s existing wind power laws and regulations. The majority of the bills were attempts to either make it more difficult to secure grid scale wind power permits or increase public participation in the process. Most of the proposals failed to pass and a few have been carried over and will be discussed again in 2014. However, one noteworthy wind power bill did become law: LD 385: An Act to Improve Wind Energy Development Permitting. Among other things, LD 385 modifies the permitting process for grid-scale wind energy developments by providing for additional opportunities for public comment, it strengthens protection for Bicknell’s thrush, and it requires that a grid-scale wind energy development permit application must contain options for best practical mitigation to reduce impacts on scenic or wildlife resources.

Wildlife

In 2013, the State Legislature enacted two bills designed to benefit two specific wildlife species in the years ahead: LD 72: An Act To Open the St. Croix River to River Herring and LD 730: An Act to Protect Maine's Loons by Banning Lead Sinkers and Jigs. LD 72 required the State of Maine to open fishways on the Woodland and Grand Falls dams (both located on the St. Croix River) to allow unconstrained passage of river herring. LD 730 makes changes to the sale of lead sinkers used for fishing in an effort to reduce the amount of lead ingested by common loons.

Marine

The issue of seaweed harvesting continues to divide many shorefront owners and seaweed harvesters. Central to the dispute is who owns the seaweed in the intertidal area: the abutting landowner or the public. Absent a case before the Maine Law Court, the answer to this question will remain uncertain. In the meantime, the Legislature this session enacted LD 585, An Act To Require the Development of a Statewide Approach to Seaweed Management. The bill empowers the Commissioner of Marine Resources to “Develop a statewide fisheries management plan for seaweed.” The plan will be presented to the State Legislaturein 2014 and may be followed by additional legislation. A committee has been assembled to develop the plan and they will be meeting monthly through the end of the year. The committee includes representatives from TNC and MCHT.

Bills Defeated

Property Rights

Legislators once again submitted a number of “property rights” bills. These initiatives were largely designed to roll back existing environmental laws and regulations, and to prevent future ones from being enacted. Three bills of note include:

  • LD 220, An Act to Ban the United Nations Agenda 21 in Maine
  • LD 1039, An Act to Promote Regulatory Fairness
  • LD 1450, An Act to Connect the Citizens of the State to the State's Natural Resources by Establishing Standards for Relief from Regulatory Burdens.

In 2012, a bill that was similar to LD 1450 passed in the House of Representatives, but fell a few votes short in the State Senate. This session, all three of these bills were more soundly defeated in both legislative bodies.

Climate Change Adaptation

In 2013, the State Legislature passed LD 825: Resolve, To Study Climate Change and Implement the Recommendations of the Department of Environmental Protection Report on Climate Change. However, the bill was vetoed by the Governor, a veto that the legislature subsequently failed to override. Had the resolve been enacted it would have directed “state agencies and interested parties to develop a plan to address high-priority recommendations” developed in a report writtenin 2010 titled “People and Nature Adapting to a Changing Climate: Charting Maine's Course.”

State Conservation Tax Credit

There was little discussion among Taxation Committee members before unanimously defeating LD 980: An Act to Provide an Income Tax Credit for a Qualified Conservation Contribution. If the bill had succeeded, it would have provided a nonrefundable State income tax credit in an amount equal to 50% of a qualified conservation contribution in tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2013. The credit could have been carried forward for up to 25 years.

Bills Carried Over

Water Bond

When the Legislature adjourned in July they decided to hold off on making any decisions related to sending bond proposals to voters in 2013 or 2014. While there is definitely support for new bonds among both Democrats and Republicans in the legislature, as well as the Governor, at this point it remains uncertain when serious bond discussions may take place. There is a possibility that the Legislature will reconvene later this summer or fall. They may also wait until returning in January of 2014. Among the bond proposals on the table is LD 1455, An Act To Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue To Ensure Clean Water and Safe Communities. The bill seeks to fund investments in built and natural infrastructure projects. Built infrastructure investments would include culvert upgrades, stormwater management projects, and irrigation system enhancements which improve the efficiency of water use by farmers. Natural infrastructure investments could involve the conservation or restoration of high priority lakes, rivers, streams, groundwater sources, wetlands and headwater forests. The bill is supported by a broad coalition of organizations led by TNC.

Nonprofit Tax/Service Charges

With pressure building on state and municipal budgets, the appetite among legislators to find money from the nonprofit sector is growing. Both the Taxation and Appropriations Committees will be studying this issue over the summer and fall. It is important to keep in mind that neither effort is targeting land trusts specifically, but land trusts would likely be impacted along with hospitals, youth camps, museums, private schools, social service agencies, and other nonprofits.

The Taxation Committee will be looking at how and whether to allow municipalities to assess “service charges” on certain nonprofit-owned property tax exempt properties (LD 936: An Act To Authorize Municipalities To Impose Service Charges on Tax-exempt Property Owned by Certain Nonprofit Organizations ). These services could include services such as police, road maintenance, and fire protection, but usually exclude education and welfare.

Late in the session, the Appropriations Committee floated an idea that would have taxed nonprofits with specified minimum assets and annual incomes. The proposal would have even taxed land trust properties that were not property tax exempt. MCHT began to quickly organize opposition to the measure, joining many other nonprofit organizations, and the Committee responded by creating a task force and ordering a study of the issue rather than enacting legislation. The task force will “evaluate the feasibility and desirability of . . . imposing a temporary assessment on certainnonprofit organizations that will generate approximately $100,000,000 in revenueannually.”

Both Committees will be meeting through the end of 2013 before providing recommendations to the full legislature in 2014.

July 23, 2013